Tuks claimed a statement win over defending champions UCT in Pretoria, while there were also victories for Shimlas, NWU and UJ on Monday.
Playing in front of a packed Tuks Stadium, the hosts recovered from a poor start to triumph 38-22.
Ikeys struck inside the first minute when winger Lezane Davis crossed for a point-of-origin try, but Tuks responded through captain Dillon Smith, who dotted down for a point-of-origin score of his own, with flyhalf Divan du Toit adding the extras.
Sensational response from the Stripe Generation. The bomb, the pick up, the hands and then that angle from Dillon Smith!
Champagne rugby from @TuksSport! #RugbyThatRocks #WhosNXT pic.twitter.com/qOmxUDdJGJ
— Varsity Cup (@varsitycup) February 16, 2026
The visitors continued to threaten and were rewarded with a second point-of-origin try from winger Jack Benade, but momentum swung decisively when Andile Myeni sliced through the defence for back-to-back tries. The winger completed his brace after latching onto Du Toit’s cross-field kick as Tuks grabbed control.
Flanker Abel Pretorius powered over from a driving maul to hand the hosts a 28-17 half-time lead.
Tuks maintained their grip after the break, with centre Kobus Janse van Rensburg extending the advantage before replacement back Aidan Norris replied for Ikeys.
Fullback Hopewell Ntshangase sealed the result late on, while Du Toit was named Man of the Match.
In Bloemfontein, Shimlas claimed a 50-39 bonus-point win over Maties in a 13-try thriller.
Shimlas raced into a 21-0 lead before Maties hit back, including the tournament’s first-ever powerplay (tap) try from centre CJ Marx.
Maroon Machine back in the game after Rynhardt van der Linden scores in the corner and @MatiesSport select the tap option and successfully score within 120 seconds to add a further 5 points and close the gap to just 4!#RugbyThatRocks #WhosNXT pic.twitter.com/kqjbhfruwe
— Varsity Cup (@varsitycup) February 16, 2026
The hosts did enough to secure victory on a poignant evening at Shimla Park, paying tribute to Oom Tat Botha and former Springbok hooker Wessel Lightfoot.
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UJ outgunned newcomers Emeris (formerly Varsity College) 61-41 in Johannesburg after trailing 21-19 at half-time, while the NWU Eagles overturned a 10-point deficit at the break to beat the CUT Ixias 59-42 in another high-scoring encounter in Bloemfontein.
Round 1 results
Shimlas 50 Maties 39
Tuks 38 UCT 22
UJ 61 Emeris 41
CUT 42 NWU 59
Round 2 fixtures
Monday, 23 February
NWU vs Emeris (4:45pm, SuperSport)
Maties vs UJ (7pm, SuperSport)
UCT vs CUT (7pm)
Shimlas vs Tuks (7pm)
Photo: Catherine Kotze/Asem Engage
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